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A. L. DE LEEUW.

NUT BRANDNG PROCESS APPLICATION HLED SEPT. 8| |9|9 i ATTORNEY mvrrri srtarns rritirii engsten.

ADOLPH L. DE LEEUW, 0F PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

NUT-BRANDING PROCESS.

Application filed September 8, 1919.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, AnoLrrt L. DE Lnnmv, a citizen of the United States, and residing at 1021i Park avenue, Plainfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Nut- Branding Process, of which the following specification is a full disclosure.

rlhis invention deals with a method and means for expeditiously branding articles of various sizes and proportions and, especially, articles obtainable With irregular or corrugated surfaces, such as natural products, as walnuts and the like.

Heretofore, growers and producers of natural products, which are available in irregular shapes and sizes, have been obliged to depend upon bags or other receptacles for containing the articles in bulk as a means of identifying such articles before the public. The trademark of the producer or distributer has, as a matter of necessity, been applied to the bag or container, but this affords an opportunity for substitution on the part of subsequent handlers. As a consequence, producers who exercise great care in the original selection and classification of the articles for the purpose of standardizingthe quality thereof are rendered very liable to have their reputation impaired through improper substitutions of inferior articles.

Attempts have been made to develop some satisfactory method and apparatus whereby the trade-mark or branding of the original packer can be aflixed directly to cach individual article and thereby render such substitutions impracticable, but diliiculties have prevented the successful operation of such means as have heretofore been proposed. These diliiculties arise from the fact that natural products, such as walnuts, are available only in irregular sizes and With roughened or corrugated surfaces. Consequently, any mechanism dependingupon precision of contact between the article and any branding means is incapable of adapting itself to the unavoidably erratic conditions.

This invention operates under a principle never heretofore applied in this art. That Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2, 1919.

Serial No. 322,302.

is to say, instead of seeking to effect the branding through a physical contact be tween the ink carrier and the article, this invention proceeds on the diametrically opposite principle of avoiding any such contact and, in lieu thereof, of utilizing the principle of projection for transferring the branding fluid (preliminarily disposed in conformity With the predetermined design) across the intervening gap and then directly onto the article to be branded.

My method avoids any direct contact With the printing element, and therefore is in no Wise dependent upon or materially affected by the character of the surface of the nut, since it utilizes the principle of projecting the branding material, which Will usually be in the nature of a paint adapted to be projected under control so as to impinge on the article and thereby automatically compensate for the irregularities thereof.

In carrying out my process, the articles to be branded are caused to travel past and in close proximity with a foraininous diaphragm; the perforations of which are disposed to represent the symbol or trade-mark to be imprinted. These perforations are minute and are periodically filled With the branding duid, which may be in the nature of a pigment or of a liquid adapted to react with the husk of the nut to effect a permanent marking thereof. As the walnuts move past the diaphragm, and When they are in opposition with the pores thereof, a blast ofair is caused momentarilly to act against the other side of the diaphragm to dispel the branding fluid from. said pores and project it, in the form of minute projectiles, directly toward the corrugated or uneven surface of the nut. The little perforations inthe diaphragm operate, in effect, like so many little guns and throw their projectiles of paint onto the nut, Where they will be deposited in a manner faithfully to preserve the outlines of the trademark to the subsequent purchaser. The action being substantially instantaneous, the travel of the nut need not be arrested for the printing interval in order to obtain a satisfactory definition of the branded trademark. lluring the intervals between the successive air blasts, the pores of the ,diaphragm are filled with the brandingfiuid or ink, as by any suitable inking mechanism employing a brusher, roller or other suitable sweeper.

This invention will be easily understood by ivay of a diagramn'iatic drawing' to which reference may noiv be made.

Figure l illustrates the branding,` instrumentality in side elevation; showing the diaphragm holder extending longitudinally with the conveyer. Fig. 2 illustrates al modiiied diaphragm holder arranged transversely t@ the conveyor.

in such drawing, i denotes conventional hopper adapted to contain a supply of nuts or similar objects indicated by B. it suitable conveyor here indicated as a conventional belt C presenting` a series of side walls D rnd of partitions E, which form series of pockets or containers, each adapted to receive a nut during its transit past the discharge opening of the hopper it. rlhis endless belt is suitably niounted, as by means of rolls F and G, so that it may be continuously driven in the same direction; as through power applied to one of said rolls. These pockets pass successively past and in proximity With a diaphragm which may be arranged, operated, and mounted in various Wa-ys 1Within the scope of this vention. in the diagrammatic draivine' l?? indicates a casting proi ridingl an aircha nbcr l Which is supplied with air through a pipe J controlled by a valve l, here indicated as of the puppet type; the source of air under pressure being indicated by L. The mechanism is such the diaphragm, properly inked, rea niomentamv blast of air at the iueach pocket conta ring; the article :u:- rives in coincidence ivith it.

lr the diagrammatic drawing, the foraminous diaphragm is indicated by lili as becarried by a slide N ranged to reciprocate in a suitable slideivay provided by the frame clement il; said slideivay providing' an nking platen l) on which rides an inking roller Q, for the purpose of sprea din g the ink and distributing it evenly on to vthe diaphragm When the ink roller rides over its surface. The ink is supplied to the inking platen by means of a suitable source indicated by l. The slide N is reeiprocated in a suitable manner, here indi` cated diagianV natically by a rotary crank connected to the slide by a connecting rod T. This crank .l carries a cam U, which.I momenti ily artuutes the puppet -valve if( sant the diaphragm and the adl rlhe crank timed relation With e travel of the conveyor C so that the o peration takes place for each nut in succes driven in a suitablj,

sion. lf desired., a 'cries of similar diaphragm devices may be ar anged in series along the conveyor, so as to operate each on different pockets of the conveyor and thereby enable its speed to be increased.

lllithout further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this inven tion that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications Without omitting certain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specic aspects of this invention, and therefore such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended Within the meaning and range of equivalency of the following' claims.

Having thus revealed this invention, I claim as new the following combinations of steps and elements or equivalents thereof, and desire to secure the same by Letters Patent of the United States:

l. er process of the nature disclosed for branding articles which consists in eifecting the relative lateral movement between an inked stencil and the article; and momentarily utilizing air under pressure for projecting the ink from the pores of the stencil across the gap between the stencil and the article, and thereby depositing it on said article in conformity With the outlines of the stencil.

2. A branding process consisting; in causing the article to be branded to travel past a stencil laden with branding fluid; and

momentarily utilizing air pressure to project the branding' fluid across the intervening grap and onto the article during its transit.

3. A branding process consistingv in causing an article to travel laterally in spaced. relation with a stencil; applying branding fluid to the stencil previous to the moment of conjunction of the article, and abruptly applying;V air under pressure to the remote side of the stencil at the instant of conjunction to force the branding; fluid from the pores of the stencil and project it across the intervening grap and onto the article While in transit.

4t. A branding process of the nature disclosed consisting in causing a series of articles to travel successively past a stencil at a slight distance therefroifn; applying branding lluid to said stencil synchronously with the intervals bet-Ween the articles; and momentarily utilizing air pressure at the nioments of conjunction of the articles with rcspect to the stencil to project the branding fluid from the pores of the stencil inV sub stautially right lines across the `Qjap and ont-o the articles.

5. A. branding apparatus comprising a. perforated diaphragm; a conveyor mounted to travel in proxi'mity therewith, means `for periodically applying branding Huid to said my naine as attested by the two subscribing dizphralgm; a slouice Offaly undeicl pressure; Witnesses, an Va ve mee mnism o1' erio ical releasing a blast of air to piject Huid 3trom ADOLPH L' DE LEEUW 5 the pores of said diaphragm onto articles Witnesses:

carried by the conveyer. CLAIRE FLEMING,

In Witness whereof I hereunto subscribe ALBERT F. NATHAN. 

